Contact for underground electric railways



UNITED STATES PATENT *OFFIcE.

WILLIAM Q. PREXVITT, OFiLEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.

CONTACT FOR UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,896, dated May 9, 1893.

Application filed May 19, 1892.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM Q. PREWITT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lexington, in the county of Fayette and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Contacts for Underground'Electrio Railways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In under-ground electric railways where trolleys are carried at the end of a shank considerable trouble, damage to apparatus, and delay in traffic ensues upon the derailment or other accident to the car-the shank and its attached parts becoming twisted and entangled in the slot or conduit.

The object of my invention is to preclude the possibility of these annoyances; and to this end my invention consists in providing a detachable trolley carrying apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a side elevation of an apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 illustrates a cross section of a conduit with my contact apparatus in edge elevation. Fig. 3 is a side View showing the apparatus in its detaching position; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the form of the end of the shank.

The letter A designates the shank which may be secured to the car in any approved manner, and B the detachable trolley or contact frame. The body of the frame has brackets 1) extending horizontally from its sides. Upon these brackets are secured arms a carrying yielding supports 01 for the trolleys d which normally engage the conductors p in the roof of the conduit. The arms 0 are insulated from the brackets 19 by means of nonconductors of electricity m interposed between the connected parts. Binding posts n are attached toor form a part of arms 0.

Extending from opposite edges of the body of the frame are ears 0 in which are pivoted latch arms or levers I. These latch arms have projections q at their lower ends which limit their outward movement and set screws 1' which limit their inward movement. Hooks $eria1No, 433,566. (N0 model.)

h are formed on the latch arms to engage notches 1' in the edges of the shank. The upper parts of the latch arms diverge outwardly and have rounded T shaped extremities Z. The latch arms are drawn toward each other and are held with their hooks h in notches i of the shank by means of springs s.

In assembling the parts the frame A is pushed up on the shank and the inclined surfaces t, below the notches t', acting against the upper sides of the hooks h force the latch arms asunder. When the hooks reach the notches they are drawn and held therein by the springs. The conducting wires 10 for the motor are properly insulated andpassed down through holes in the shank and their ends are detachably secured in the binding posts 12. The current from the conductors 10 passes through the supports 01, arms 0, binding posts at, and wires 19' to the motor on the car.

When a car furnished with my contact leaves the track the apparatus is pulled up against-the roof of the conduit which separates the arms Z and allows the apparatus to fall to the floor uninjured. The derailed car may then be coupled to another and drawn to the shed. The detached contact on the floor of the conduit will not interfere with the passage of other cars, and it may be readily removed when desired.

What I claim, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is- I. In a contact apparatus, a shank, a contact device, and an automatically operable latch for connecting the contact device with the shank. V

2. In a contact apparatus, a shank, a frame having a contact device thereon, and a latch for holding said frame detachably engaged with the shank, and adapted to be automatically operated by contact with the conduit to release the frame, substantially as described.

3. In a contact apparatus, a shank, a contact supporting frame detachable thereon, a lever pivoted to said frame and constructed to engage said shank to hold the frame in place and also constructed so as to be disengaged from the shank by contact with the conduit, substantially as described.

4. In a contact apparatus, a shank having a In testimony whereof I aflix n1 notch, a contact supporting frame detachably presence of witnesses. connected therewith, and a lever pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage said notch 5 to hold the frame in place and also to be released from said notch, substantially as dey signature in WILLIAM Q. PRE WITT. Witnesses:

A. N. DEMAREST, scribed. O. L. HUBBARD. 

